Pneumatic tool.



No. 780,354. PATBNTBD JAN. 17, 1905. W. H. KELLER.

PNEUMATIC TOOL.

APPLICATION FILED OUT. 15.1904.

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No. 780,354. I PATENTED JAN. 1'7, 1905. W. H. KELLER.

PNEUMATIC TOOL.

APPLIGATION FILED OCT. 15,1904.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2- 814 vendor.

NITED STATES Patented January 17, 1905.

PATENT OFFICE.

PNEUMATIC TOOL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N 0. 780,354, dated January17, 1905.

Application filed October 15, 1904.. Serial No. 228,628.

To all whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that 1, WILLIAM H. KELLER, a citizen of the United States,residing in the city and county of Philadelphia, State of Pennsylvania,have invented a new and useful Handle for Pneumatic Tools, of which thefollowing is a specification.

My invention consists of a novel construction of apneumatic-tool handlehavinga throttle mechanism located outside of the grasping portion ofthe handle and so formed that the throttle mechanism is self-containedand easily accessible.

It further consists of a throttle-valve and throttle-valve casing whichare so constructed and arranged as to be capable of operation by atrigger which may be actuated by the finger of the operator or by alever to be operated by the thumb or hand of the operator without anychange being required in the character or location of the throttle-valveor its adjuncts, it being understood that the change from the trigger tothe lever may be made Without changing the operating parts of thehandle.

It further consists of novel features of construction, all as will behereinafter set forth.

Figure 1 represents a sectional view showing the throttle-valvemechanism in closed position and with a linger-operated trigger foractuating said valve mechanism. Fig. 2 represents a sectional viewshowing the throttlevalve in open position and with a thumb or handoperated lever in position in the toolhandle for operating said valvemechanism.

Similar numerals of reference indicate corresponding parts in thefigures.

Referring to the drawings, 1 designates the threaded opening locatedwholly outside of the handle or its grasping portion, to which isconnected a flexible rubber tubing or other means for conveying the airor motive fluid to the tool, which fluid passes througl'l the duct 2 andenters the chamber 3, from which lead the ports 4:, which ports 4 areshown closed in Fig. 1 and open in Fig. 2, so that the fluid when thevalve is open can pass around the reduced neck 5 of the valve 6 and canpass through the ports 7 into the chamber 8, from whence it can passthrough the port 9 into the tool proper.

10 designates the trigger, which is suitably fulcrumed and has asuitable portion bearing against the valve 6, and 11 designates a leverwhich has a portion bearing against the valve, so that when either thetrigger 10 or the lever 11 are actuated the throttle-valve 6 isdepressed against the action of a spring 12, so that the ports 4; willbe open and the motive fluid pass into the tool proper, as already described, it being understood that the throttle valve mechanism is soconstructed that it can be operated by either a trigger, such as 10, ora lever, such as 11, which are suitably mounted in order to operate saidvalve mechanism to control the motive fluid, it being understood that bythe construction just described. the valve mechanism is operated in onedirection by constant pressure and is actuated in the other direction byan interchangeable finger-pressed trigger or a thumb or hand pressedlever.

It will be apparent that in each embodiment of my invention thethrottle-valve, which in the present instance has a plurality of headsjoined by a neck, is contained, preferably, within a bushing 13,which iscontained within the head-block 14, which constitutes no part of thehandle or the grasping portion 15, said handle and grasping portionbeing joined to said head-block at its upper portion by means of theneck 16 and at its lower portion by the neck 17.

18 designates a hollow chamber within the handle 15, which is employedpartly for the purpose of lightness and partly for the purpose ofproviding a receptacle for the valveoperating device 10 or 11, as may bedesired, it being apparent that each valve-operating device is providedwith an extension 19, which terminates in the head 20, which latter hasa sliding contact with the top of the valve 6, said extension and headbeing always located within the chamber 21, which forms the up perterminus of the chamber 18, said chamber 21 also serving to receive theupper portion of the throttle-valve 6. It will be apparent from theforegoing that by reason of the extremities 19 and 20 of themanually-operated devices 10 or 11 and the extremity of thethrottle-valve 6 being always contained in the chamber 21 the same areto a great extent always protected from dirt and dust, which is verydeleterious to tools of this character, the liability of the entrance ofdirt, dust, or sand through the slot 22 being reduced to a minimum byreason of the location of said slot, which I have shown in the presentinstance as common to both types of handle, although, if desired, saidslot may in some instances be omitted.

It will be apparent that in each embodiment of my invention thethrottle-valve and its adj uncts may always remain the same, said valvein each instance having the constant pressure of the spring 12 or itsequivalent forcing it upwardly and being opened or moved downwardly ineach case by the downward movement of the head 20 slidingly contactingwith the top of the valve 6. When the valve is closed, the parts appear,as already explained, as seen in Fig. 1, any improper movement ordisplacement of the valve being prevented by the contact of the head 20with the top wall 22 of the chamber 21, as is evident.

1t will be apparent from the foregoing that to equip the handle with athumb or finger operated device or to change from one device to theother no change is necessary in the throttle-valve or its adjuncts norin the handle proper other than the mere mechanical slitting of thehandle-casing and the assembling of the various parts.

So far as I am aware I am the first in the art to construct a handle andits adjuncts so proportioned and chambered that either a finger or thumboperated device can be employed at will without necessitating any changein the construction or location or manner of operation of thethrottle-valve or of the handle proper, and my claims to this featureare therefore to be interpreted with corresponding scope.

It will be evident that various changes may be made by those skilled inthe art which will come within the scope of my invention, andl do not,therefore, desire to be limited in every instance to the exactconstruction herein shown and described. 4

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a device of the character named, a grasping-handle, a head-blockto which said handle is secured, a chamber in one end of saidhead-block, a throttle-valve located in said head-block and extendingtransversely thereof and a manually-operated lever having one portionextending outside of said handle and the other end extending into saidhead block chamber and in sliding contact with said throttle-valve foractuating the same.

2. In a device of the character named, a grasping-handle having achamber therein, a head-block to which said handle is secured, a chamberin the upper portion of said headblock in communication with the chamberin said handle, a throttle-valve located in said head-block, means foroperating said throttlevalve in one direction by constant pressure and amanually-operated lever having an end contained in said head-blockchamber and bearing on the extremity of said throttlevalve foractuatingthe latter in an opposite direction.

3. The combination of a grasping-handle, a head-block having said handlesecured thereto at its upper and lower portions, a throttlevalve in saidhead-block and extending transversely thereof, a chamber in said handleand grasping portion, said chamber being continued through the upperportion of said handle and terminating in the upper portion of saidhead-block, said throttle-valve having its upper extremity projectinginto the headblock chamber, and a manually-operated device pivotallymounted and having an extension adapted to be in frictional contact withthe top of said throttle-valve, the latter being adapted to be actuatedin one direction by constant pressure and in the other direction by saidmanually-operated device.

4. The combination of a handle, a headblock. a motive-fluid inletleading to said head-block wholly outside of said handle, a chamber inthe upper portion of said headblock, a throttle-valve in said head-blockextending transversely thereof, and having its upper end projecting intosaid chamber, means for exerting pressure upon the opposite end of saidvalve and a manually-operated lever havinga head bearing on an end ofsaid valve and in sliding contact therewith, said valve being adapted tobe actuated by a thumb or finger of the operator.

5. In a device of the character named, a head-block, a throttle-valveextending transversely of said head-block, said valve having constantpressure on one end thereof, the opposite end terminating in a chamber,a manually-operated device fulcrumed in proximity to said chamber and anextension on said device located in said chamber, said extension beingin sliding contact with said valve, and said valve being adapted to beactuated by a thumb or finger of the operator.

WILLIAM H. KELLER.

Witnesses:

JOHN A. WIEDERSHEIM, WVu. CANER WIEDERSEIM.

